✨ Magical Mindset Podcast: Living in Flow

Finding Flow and Wellness in Adversity with Dr. Yoli and the Eight Principles of ZENTAO

[00:00:00] Introduction to Today's Episode

Macarena: Are you yearning to be more present? Do you need clarity? Is flow an ideal state for you? If yes, then you're going to love today's episode.

[00:00:10] Meet Yolanda Lidia Valdés, PhD

Macarena: My guest today is Yolanda Lidia Valdés, PhD. Flow coach, integrative wellness practitioner and author. She also happens to be my bestie. She lives here in Miami and is fluent in Italian and Spanish. And she has sessions locally and internationally, virtually. Yoli supports and empowers women to create lasting wholeness. She helps her clients amplify their natural strength, resilience, and intuitive wisdom. Yolanda's expertise includes contemplative practices, energy medicine protocols, lifestyle protocols, mental clarity, personal growth, transpersonal therapy. She's a transpersonal therapist and she's also a yogi.

Intro: Welcome to Magical Mindset with Macarena luz Bianchi, where we explore the magic of mindset, gratitude, and purposeful living. I'm your host, Macarena, and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey of wonder, wellness, and wisdom. You can find the episode show notes, your free Magical Mindset Blueprint, and more at xpres.me/podcast. And here's the show.

Macarena: I'm so excited for today's episode because I get to have a wonderful conversation about flow with my dearest bestie. She's amazing and I absolutely adore her. Of course, I'm biased. And we'll get into how we met and all that stuff. But we're here to talk about flow.

Dr Yoli Valdés is with us today. She is Yolanda Lydia Valdés, PhD, flow coach and integrative wellness practitioner. She's the author of this wonderful book,

The Art of Flow 40 Reflections on Being Fully Present.

So Yoli, can you please introduce yourself?

Yoli: Maca, thank you so much for having me.

I'm known as the flow coach, but like I said, I don't like titles or anything like that. But I'm a person that loves life and loves nature. And for me, it's very important to connect with nature. I learned that at an early age going to the park, being around plants and being around the garden.

And my most important connection with nature was when I moved to Italy. There I experienced a lot of nature around me, and there is where I created the ZENTAO philosophy. It's putting together everything that I learned into one philosophy, one practice that encompasses different steps. And these steps can be used one at a time or it could be used simultaneously, depends on what's going on in your life.

So, ZENTAO became my practice, my personal practice while living there. And at the same time, the practice that I taught students over there while I was in Italy.

Macarena: So Yoli, I'm so happy you're here. I love speaking to you all the time.

[00:03:14] The Origin Story of Macarena and Yoli

Macarena: And I want to touch on our origin story because it was quite instrumental to who I am today. And it started when I had finished grad school. I moved back to Miami. I was working. I was setting up a production company for a posthouse and I was like, okay what do I need to be superhuman so I can make more movies and help the world? That was my vibe at the time.

So, the first thing I did was join a gym where I got to meet an ex boyfriend of yours who said if you want to learn about nutrition, you have to meet Yoli. And it was one of the best things that happened because that set off a sequence of events where Yoli introduced me to acupuncture. The acupuncturist introduced me to a massage therapist.

The massage therapist introduced me to a chef. And all of that. And then one of the coolest things is I offer higher self consulting. Part of my sessions are very intuitive. And that is all because of the first Akashic record consultation I had 25 years ago. Thanks to Yoli, because she said, you have to do this. And I remember being like, ah, I'm so not interested in fortune telling. And she's it's not that. You need to go. And it turns out she was right because that set in motion my origin story of going from atheist to spiritual teacher. You were one of the first people to talk to me about flow.

So Yoli,

[00:04:43] Understanding the Art of Flow

Macarena: What is the art of flow?

Yoli: The Art of is a way of being, a way of living your life. It's a mindset that encompasses living your life from the inside out and applying these eight principles of ZENTAO.

Macarena: I remember being really into Buddhism back in the day, and so were you. And those early days, what did flow look like in your life?

Yoli: Back then I remember that I was into creating a simplified life. I was very much practicing eight treasures, the Taoist way, Taoist practices, and I remember you saying less is more. And that became my mantra for my whole entire life to this day, I carry that because that less and more became my ZENTAO, became all my practices, and became the art of flow.

Because the art of flow is also less is more. It's also the wu wei. It's effortless. It's totally effortless. And living that way without anything else. But it's all less is more. And that was back then, and then it went on and on and everywhere I went, less is more.

And why less is more? Because I believe, from my experiences, that the more we entangle ourselves into situations, into life situation, into heaviness, or resistance, the harder it is to have a healthier way of living or a healthier immune system or a better way to navigate life.

It's like grabbing onto the past and not letting go. And knowing that there's always the yin and yang of things. There's always a beginning and an end. There's always something heavy, after the heaviness comes the lightness. And that's why I associate that to the Taoist way of saying, the water is very yang when those waves take off. And at the finish, you have the yin, which is settles and becomes calm. And those are the things that I have been into and practicing and how I associate everything in my life and how I also teach others how to see their lives from that perspective.

And yeah, the less is more is the art of flow.

Macarena: I remember you loved that. Less is more. And recently, I realized that less is not more, more is more. So, there's new ones to everything. And one of the things that we talk about all the time is how the tools need to be applied and there's new ones to everything. So for me, the less is more had to do with the overwhelm. It's so easy to be overwhelmed. And the less is more was like, okay, how do we simplify? So, one of the things I know that I love about you and that you're really help other people with is to simplify so that people can feel at ease, can have greater clarity, be present, and express themselves. So, if someone was coming to you and they were overwhelmed, what are some tips you would recommend?

Yoli: First, the overwhelming comes from somewhere. It's like, let's strategize here, let's break it down. Sometimes, like I see it, the things that overwhelm you, it's just on the surface, but there's a deeper overwhelm that is happening. And that's where I tap into. To be able to release the surface overwhelmment. So, I start strategizing and breaking down different areas of the person's life and where they feel more at flow and where they feel more in resistance.

So, it's flow or resistance. It's one or the two. So, by working through what's working, what that person have applied in that area of their lives that it's flowing versus the one that is in resistance. And when they look at that, they really realize that there's no difference between one or the other.

They're the same. We just have to bring them together. Bring them together like the waves, that, comes up and then it just settles down into calmness.

Macarena: I love what you're saying. I think what you're speaking to is the rhythms. There's always like a rhythm to thing. There's a rhythm to life. And I think as we get wiser and more mature and older, it's easier to recognize that and go with the flow. Someone yesterday, a client was asking me, about the night. Like the moon is bad for us. And it's like the moon is neutral. The moon is part of the day. It's that flow state that you're talking about, right?

And what I like about your work is I know you help people one on one. But your book, which I absolutely love, I adore, 40 Reflections on Being Fully Present. This is a way for people to do this work on their own, gently and systematically. Because these prompts help them go deeper and do that whether you're doing it on meditation or through journaling. So, what inspired the book?

Yoli: The book was inspired by the pandemic. Actually, during the pandemic, I was going through a divorce. I was going through a lot of changes. And also, I was going through what now? It's like this is an opportunity for me to create something if I'm going to be at home. So, one of the things I did was walk every morning. I would take walks, long walk, an hour and a half, two hours and I will walk. And I started to connect more and more with nature, what was around me. And at that time I was living in Miami shores. There's a lot of trees, beautiful trees, and beautiful homes with beautiful gardens.

And I started to walk and I started to observe. I became very observant of my surroundings. And that was the beginning, the inspiration. And out of that came my writings. I started to write and started to sense. It's if nature was talking to me. And that conversation became the book.

Macarena: Awesome. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Yoli: They're deep reflections, contemplations, and observations of time and what was going on with nature. Nature is magical. It speaks to us if we pay attention.

Macarena: That's the magic of being present. So, flow is a magical mindset. Flow is a tool to allow us to be present. How else would you describe flow and why it's so important in everyday life?

[00:11:07] The Eight Principles of ZENTAO

Yoli: The ZENTAO philosophy, which is The Art of Flow, there's a process. There's an eight step process. It's tapped in with when someone is working with me.

So, the first one is authenticity. The importance of being authentic with who we are and accepting and loving ourselves exactly how we are. And that connects us to truth. To our truth. What is our truth? Because being truthful to the person that we believe that we are underneath the facade and everything else, there's a person, there's a life, there's energy that wants to shine, that wants to be reflected and shown to the world.

So, it's like you're allowing yourself to open your mind and heart and vibe this energy of authenticity of truth. It's the first step in the healing process because each of these steps were developed in Italy when I was there going through all the changes of one thing is going on vacation, the other thing is actually living there. And I told myself, these steps are also intuitive messages, things that I felt. In order for me to survive and be in this city and connect with people, I need to be completely authentic. I have to speak my truth.

I have to show up exactly with how I am. And that helped me speak my mind and open myself to a town that were close minded and that after going through that process, opened their hearts to me and you know I became really their guru, their teacher, and helped them in in the healing process because I was helping myself at that time.

So, the second step after that is self-observation. Observing. Really observing what is it that we do? Because it's not that we cannot say, Oh, no, I'm not aware. What is it that we do that we become resistant or we don't allow flow to come in. It's noticing how we hold ourselves, how we walk, how we enter a room, how we feel victimize or how we feel. Our thoughts and behavior is very important to articulate in this process.

And self-observation helps you be more creative, have clarity, and also have wisdom. There's an inner wisdom that comes by observing yourself and your way of being that can help you understand the way of being of another and how they are. Because it's a reflection of one person reflects to another.

They came to me especially in that order. The third one is self-inquiry. Asking the questions. Asking yourself the questions that you need to ask to be truthful. So, it's like an inner surgeon excavating for something and exploration into your sight, into your mind and body.

And you need to question the environment that you live in if it's the right environment. If you're living where you need to live. If you're okay with that. Your experiences that you're having. And also there's some assumptions that you're assuming certain things and it might not be the right way to go.

So, this inner exploration allows you to have the courage to face the most difficult challenges in your life. Because you're allowing yourself to really dive in into exploring and into asking questions about your life and yourself. I call it also the lotus process. And to shine that diamond and when it's with that beautiful lotus flowers, it comes up. But it went through the mud and all the darkness that it has to go through in order to come back through and shine and the beautiful flower that it becomes. And the fourth value is intention. What is your intention in your growth? What is your intention in the healing process? Are you doing it because you believe that there's a part of you that wants to improve or wants to heal and grow? Or you're doing it someone told you all you need to do that? So, one of the things about exploring this part is exploring your inner will, the will of your spirit. That spirit that is saying it's time for you to give yourself the gifts that you were meant to live here in this life.

So, it's describing how you want to approach your life, what is it that you see yourself here to three months, six months, a year, five years down the road. How do you know? What intentions are you creating around that? So, it's an inner will and an inner courage. It's a growth and an evolution into diving deep into who you truly are in that intention, that part of you.

Then you have number five, which is presence. The presence is the most amazing one because experiencing the presence of your future without that you're creating in the now, right now. And also cultivating this presence way of being like showing up how you want to be. It doesn't matter if you're not there yet. But you cultivate this every day and you become it every day and you show up every day till it becomes one with yourself.

So, that is the awareness. Being aware of and in alignment with that, which you said that you want to create for yourself. So, this practice of presence also is a stress release. It helps you come into light, into the alignment that you are meant to have in this lifetime. It's also very healing and very nourishing.

So, having presence is a combination of it's okay, it's not happening right now, but it will because I'm doing the work towards it. It's having the awareness of it. And then you go into the sixth which is love which is love is love. Love is everything, loving yourself and loving the person that you're becoming each step of the way. It's passion. It's affection. It's the need. It's our essence. It's a root essence of the love that we have every day, unconditional love from source that we're able to articulate, move, having that health, that love, that energy of waking up and saying, I have another chance, I have another day.

It's that unconditional love tapping into that energy of love that encompasses everything. It's our essence and it's also connected to our abundance. The ability to have abundance in our lives which is very important. So, love is everything. Love is love.

And then we go into compassion, compassionate beings, being compassionate for yourself and being compassionate towards all the kindness connects to kindness.

Being kind to yourself through the process, of your healing process, understanding your pain, understanding and acknowledging not only who you are, but simply that growth that you have inherit in through this eight step process. And that you're going towards in your life being kind.

And the last one, which is, my favorite because we're all in it. It's called service and it's purpose. For me, service and everything I do, what we call it, my job or I work as. It's actually you're in service. Where everybody is in service, doing some sort of service, our purpose. Whether we like our jobs or not, we are in service.

And there's a reason why you're doing the job that you're doing, or what we're doing what we're doing. And we always have the option to change that. But at that time, we are assisting others in their journey by being present in their life. So, instead of saying I have this job, oh, I get up and I don't like it. It's okay, let me look at it from a different point of view. I'm in service and let me give it my all. And in the process, work towards that other service that I want to be part of. So, it's empowering, it's inspiring, and it's transformative when you work from a service point from the heart, versus a job. Versus I'm working, I'm doing, instead of I'm in service. It changes your energy totally, completely shifts to be more open and your heart completely blooms open when you're in service.

So, those are the eight principles of ZENTAO the art of flow. And when you have sessions with me, we go into them and we work through them because sometimes some clients, they might have one or two or all of them that they need to work on. Or they have one more than the other. But it's uniting all of it helps you to be in flow in this lifetime.

Macarena: Fantastic. I love it. I love it. I love it.

[00:20:10] Curiosity in Personal Development

Macarena: One of the things that struck me, one of the reoccurring themes, I call it curiosity. Having that curiosity in the personal development sphere is really important because I think I'm all about lighthearted empowerment and you're very much about peace and clarity. I love that about you. Yet these things don't have to be painful. Life is challenging enough. We expand through conflict. We expand through challenge. And with the mindset of curiosity when it comes to personal development, it just makes it so much more pleasant, so then it's not Oh my God, I either autopilot or I have to suffer and figure this out.

Yoli: Which we know that suffering is a choice.

Macarena: Ooh. What's that favorite saying? Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Yeah, that's a good one. So, I like that approach. You're going through all of these deep things. Having the mindset of curiosity, I find is really cool. Another thing you said that I absolutely love, we talk a lot about the difference between a job and a calling. And sometimes you may need to have several jobs to figure out your calling. However, through the lens of service, it can be a wonderful nourishing event, even if it's not the ideal or it's not what you want, or you know that it's temporary. And one of the things that flow reminds me of, that's been coming up a lot, like a reoccurring theme in my sessions lately, has been this idea of rhythms. When I think of flow, I also think of rhythms and it's, I think, useful and helpful to explore and view rhythms as they present themselves.

[00:21:51] Seasonal Rhythms and Personal Flow

Macarena: Of course, there's big ones like annual rhythms, seasonal rhythms, monthly rhythms, weekly, daily, etc. So, when it comes to how you take care of yourself, because we're going to talk about the Phoenix phenomenon in a second, that's one of the questions I have for you.

Today, how do you approach flow in your personal life?

Yoli: Wow. First of all, I'd do things seasonal. What we're going through right now, we're in the spring, so, it's the liver and gallbladder. So, there's a lot of detoxing. Mind body goes through the biggest organ, the liver. Going through and just releasing and detoxing.

So, I look at when I go through my own personal life seasonal and become a little bit anxious of what's going on. It's I need to detox, I need to let go, I need to release. I allow whatever it's happening to happen. And then I go through the process, the sentile process of okay, what is it that I am in resistance of, that I'm not allowing? What is it that I need to allow more of in my life in order for this to take place?

But one of the things that I have gained through this whole process is I have this deep intuition. This inner little voice. This assertiveness of or like I say my heart is talking to me that tells me when to move and when not to move, when to do and when not to do.

And it happens like I go on these 20 mile bike rides and there's all kinds of people in my path. And my intention before the bike ride, it's okay, I'm going to tune in with everyone that is in my path and they're gonna know I'm coming therefore they're going to move, and they move.

[00:23:36] Mindset and Flow: Setting the Pace

Yoli: Because if you start with the mindset of, Oh my God, there's so many people and I don't know how I'm going to go through at this pace with my bike and nobody's going to move and I'm going to be stuck, you're already starting with a mindset of lack, or not allowing. So, you're in resistance and you want to be in flow.

So, you set the pace. You tell the universe what it is that you want and how you want it. So, for me, that's a huge example because I see it. I have put to test all these principles, put to test all this way of living that I see it every day in my life.

[00:24:07] Gratitude and Universal Alignment

Yoli: The more I allow and the more I open myself and the more gratitude that I apply in my life, the more the universe opens up for me and gives me magical, I call them magical beautiful life, that it's taking place right now. It's a combination of being g true to yourself, observe yourself, watch yourself, watch your words, watch how you are with yourself first. Because if you treat yourself, in a certain way, it's easily that you're going to attract people that are going to treat you that way. It happens. Being open and being grateful, it's one of the most important things, in life. And I see it and just ask and it shall be given, because it's there. We just have to tap into nature. We have to align with it. We have to be part of it. We have to cultivate it because it lives in us. We're part of it and it's just happens. It just magically just flows easily.

Macarena: I love that. What a great example with the bike ride. I experienced it with parking. Usually, if I'm in a car with other people, everybody's Oh, we got to park. I'm like, no, I always find perfect parking, and then boom, it happens.

So, I love that.

[00:25:21] Seasonal Living and Interior Design

Macarena: So you're seasonal. You were saying you work with the seasons and I love what you said because you're talking about like in Chinese medicine, the organs that are related to spring.

And I wonder if that's where spring cleaning comes from. I don't know. Somebody, if you know, let us know. But what a cool thing that it aligns. So, beyond the seasonal, what do you do in a week or in a day?

[00:25:45] Creating Harmonious Living Spaces

Yoli: In a week, in a day, my life besides these practices that I have clients, I also do interior design. I work for a beautiful company, Scan Design North Miami, and I do beautiful interior design projects for homes. So, in the homes, I apply the same time process with aligning the energies of the space and also with the people that live there and also with with the environment. Everything is interconnected. There's no separation. So, whatever furniture is going to be placed, it's like asking permission. Can I fit there? Can I be part of that space? It's just not picking anything. Everything has to connect to the person and to the space. And it's all one. Everything is energy. We need to treat it as such.

Macarena: Yeah, I love that about you that you provide harmony, not just for the individual, but also for the home or office or whatever. So, that's really cool. The connection between personal being and personal space.

We get plenty of challenge out in the world, in our careers, et cetera. But at home, it really does need to be a sanctuary. And because I know you for so long, I've heard how you help people, which I find it really fascinating, even when it comes to the colors and the pieces. So yes, you're talking a lot about on the energetic level, but what's really cool about you is you ground it in reality.

It's really about how are you expressing yourself and how you're expressing what you want out of your living space, which is super cool. So, I'm guessing that one of the important things is this self -inquiry. This curiosity is how does this space feel? What are some other questions people can ask themselves? And so they can make simple easy changes to feel more at ease in their homes.

Yoli: First of all, a lot of people that I encounter, a lot of my clients, are disconnected. They're disconnected from themselves and disconnected from their living. I call it, there's a difference between doing and being. When you're in being, you're in flow. When you're doing, you're more in resistant to everything that can manifest itself or show up and that you don't know how to handle and it becomes very overwhelming.

And then you disconnect from source and then it becomes really , like, now what? One of the things that I ask my clients is how do you want to see your space? How does it look like? And they bring me magazines, they bring me cutouts, they bring me all kinds of stuff. And I said, I don't want none of those things. Because one of the things about me, I'm very honest in my design. I said, I don't want you to show me this physical. Sit down, take your time. How does it look like inside your own world, inside yourself, in your heart? And it's a big difference between something that everybody else has versus your heart calling. That part of you that talks to you that says, what if you can have ABC? And they don't see it because they don't allow themselves to manifest it. They're looking at, Oh, I'm looking at this, therefore I want this, and it's pretty. But then a year down the line, which it happens, they say, remove this. I don't like it anymore. Or it's just it doesn't work. Of course not.

But I don't work like that anymore. I work from the heart. And if you connect to your truth that you want, then I'm able to create spaces for you from that truth, from that space.

Macarena: Fascinating. I think that's really interesting and that's one of the things that's super unique about you. And we are fabulous mature women. So, we've lived.

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[00:29:57] Daily and Weekly Rhythms

Yoli: I have a daily rhythm because I live day by day. So, my daily rhythm consists of when I wake up, the first thing I do is I'm very grateful, gratitude. I practice gratitude and I write in my journal and I practice prayer. After that, I go into some stretches. I have my mat, I do yoga stretches and some Qigong energy exercises to wake up. And then I go into a 12 minute Tabata high intensity interval training for just 12 minutes. And it could be one day legs, upper body, or combination. And that's my routine Mondays through Friday. Mondays and Saturdays, I do yoga. Sunday, I go for my 20 mile bike ride.

Macarena: That's one heck of

Yoli: power

Macarena: weekly rhythm.

Yoli: Weekly rhythm that is a combination of yin and yang because they're both power and then I have my meditation time in the evening, the time that I take my whole entire day and break it down and see what worked and what didn't work.

And it's interesting because I catch myself when I lay down in bed, I look up the ceiling and I start rolling my day and saying, okay, I need to work more on this, on that. And I check everything from my way of being with myself, with others and what I could do better with myself and with others.

Macarena: Cool. So like a daily review. have a morning ritual and an evening ritual.

Yoli: The evening ritual, when it comes to my health, I try not to eat after seven. And if I need to do that, then I start my day of eating later on. So, it's very healthy way of living.

[00:31:40] Intermittent Fasting and Nutrition

Macarena: You practice intermittent fasting.

Yoli: Yes. I'm doing that.

Macarena: You've been a nutritionist forever and I know everything evolves and there's always so much new information and stuff like that. So, do you still help your clients with that sort of thing?

Yoli: If they need to, yes. It depends where they are. Intermittent fasting, I believe, it's one of the reasons why it has helped me stay healthy and in the weight level that I'm at. One of the things I noticed about being in intermittent fasting that I don't crave sugar anymore. I don't crave sweets. My two meals a day is sufficient for me. I start eating around 11, 11:30. I have a smoothie, protein smoothie, and then around four or five o'clock, I have my last meal, and then I go all the way through. I sleep well, and I feel that I don't have a stress level that I used to have. My stomach it's filled in, after seven, no. But if I do have a dinner date or I have to go out, then I switch everything around. I have to work with that. So, I'm able to eat that evening meal and it makes it light.

Just listen to your body. It's listening to your internal rhythm, listening to your needs. The body speaks to you. And it tells you what it needs. Just listen.

Macarena: Amen. And for the listeners, a great resource on this, where she combines intermittent fasting and the cycles is the book Fast Like a Girl, which I absolutely adore. She talks about aligning it up to your menstrual cycle. And if you don't have a cycle anymore, for whatever reason, or you're younger and on the pill or whatever, you can align it to the moon cycle, which I is really cool. So, day one would be the new moon.

I love that. I love it. I think it's so useful because fasting, if you do it at the wrong time for women could be really detrimental. There's women whose hair has fallen out, et cetera. And the difference is because men, their hormone cycle is 24 hours. Women's is, 28 or so days. That's the difference. So, personalizing it. And so I love what you said about, you got to listen to your body and your body will change. So, you've got to continue listening to your body. Listening to it once is not enough. It's an ongoing process.

[00:33:50] Navigating Life's Challenges

Macarena: So, I know we've had some experience with, let's call it a Phoenix process, where we've crashed and burned and had to restart. And I know you and I have done this personally, career wise, in several ways. Between the two if us, we have a lot of experience in the process. And it's been interesting because I think the latest one I went through like a severe one of these, I would say 16, 15 yeas ago. But you recently went through this. And one of the takeaways I got from watching you is It's so important to be present and hold on because everything's constantly changing. So, whether it's good or whether it's not good, it's important to just be clear on who you are, what you're doing, why you're doing it and persevere.

So, I commend you because you just went through a challenging one. You mentioned your divorce, and then there was like some career shifting that happened. And it's been beautiful to see you emerge so gloriously, like from it, but it was pretty hard, as even better than I do. It was very difficult for a year of really hard times. So, what are some of the takeaways? You can get into it as much or as little you want, but at least some of the takeaways for people experiencing that. Because again, I think it's really easy to see we're so grateful and so happy, people assume life's perfect, ha! It is not, we go through it. But I find like you go through it with a lot of grace, I've gone through it with a lot of grace. So, what are some of your tips?

Yoli: Some of my tips is I'm going to talk a little bit about what I went through. I went through like a whole year of being from couch surfing, car sleeping and I went through a very difficult time. Again, this is part of flow. I say, I'm not going to allow myself to be in this resistance. I'm just going to go with it. If I have to sleep in the car, sleep in the car. If I have to couch surf, I couch surf and it's fine. And I am grateful for every person, including yourself, that helped me through the process that opened their homes there. They said, you can sleep here, I went through very detrimental. It was very hard.

What helped me through this process is that I started to write more. I started to dive even deeper into parts of myself that I didn't even know, that I had only touched the surface. So, I allowed myself to go deeper and deeper and continue to be in the flow instead of being resistant or complaining about what I don't have.

Instead, I accepted exactly where I needed to be and allowed the process to take place because at the end of that tunnel, there was, magic. It's like everything showed up. Everything was like, okay, because you went through this, this is the result. This is what is there for you waiting.

Now, it's a choice. You're going to take it or not. Jump on it or not. And I decided to jump on that, all the career moves, the shifts, the changes. And what I can tell people that are going through difficult situations, whether it's a divorce, whether it is difficult stuff, like I would say a divorce or a parent dying or all these things. They're there for you to grow, to explore, to shift, to transform. Not to pity, not to dwell on.

But to glow and grow from it, to flow with it because life is a cycle. There's a beginning and there's an end. We all have an expiration date. And we don't know when that is. The only thing that we can do is live each day like it was your last day. Live it well. Love, open your heart and love more. And give more and be present and shake yourself off and say to yourself, I am an amazing human being. I came into this lifetime to give that part of myself, which I keep hiding. Let me bring it out and show the world who I truly am. Okay. So, I tell everybody to hold on, go through the process and let yourself flow. Just hang in there. Have supportive friends, not friends that are going to take you back and say horrible things to you.

You need true friends that are going to stand with you through thick and through grace. People that are there for you. Create a group or be part of a group that is going to empower you and it's going to support you. And talk to someone. Talk to a therapist. Talk to someone but don't think you're alone in this. There's thousands, millions of people going through all kinds of changes. But this is life. This is what we're supposed to grow through in order to transform to who we really are meant to be in this lifetime.

Macarena: Beautiful. It's beautiful. And I commend you.

[00:38:32] Self-Expression and Healing

Macarena: And I love one of the things you said, one of the things you learn during that horrible time, you created your book, you wrote more. So, there's something about self-expression for healing. Self-expression for self-healing.

That is such a powerful concept and it's been beautiful to see it in action. And, it's so interesting because I see you now and wow, absolutely glorious! But two years ago, things were very different. And the reason I'm glad we're talking about this, even though it's challenging, I think it's good to be honest about it so that people see there's light at the end of the tunnel.

The tunnels are temporary. Everything is temporary if you think about it. So, it is good to think about it and be okay. But anyway, I'm so proud of you for everything you accomplished. It's magnificent what you've done. And I know that because of it, you were helping people before, but now, wow! Talk about upleveling and an upgrading to the compassion and understanding and sensitivity that it comes with people going through challenging things.

And it could be anything. In your case, it was divorce. And a lot of times, people don't realize the economic impact it's going to have temporarily and the challenges that come with that. So, we were talking about the curiosity of exploring, what is it that I want? What's going on with me? It's really important to look at everything as clearly and as honest as you can, so that you understand what you're dealing with, what you're playing with.

And one of the things that reminds me is I talk a lot about life is a theme park of expression, or life is an opportunity for your expansion. So, no matter what it is, whether it's the challenge or the job or whatever, it's an opportunity for us to expand. So, it's so important to be clear on that so that we don't get confused and think that the game is about the suffering. It's not about the suffering. The suffering is the gateway to something amazing. And even though I like to say it's all about the journey, it's not about the destination, the journey has its ups and downs. If you have a theme park, you're going to have your scary rides and you're going to have your fun rides. It's all part of life.

Yoli: Yes. Well said.

[00:40:40] Connecting and Growing with Yoli

Macarena: So, for people who want to connect with you or interact with you, I know you have a new substack, which is really exciting. You have your book and a course. Is there anything else? How can people work with you?

Yoli: They can go to my website and they can sign up to receive information about what I'm up to. I'm in Instagram, posting different philosophical sayings or writings or anything that I want to, that is calming and it's also challenging. A little bit of everything. You can follow me there.

The course that goes with the book, The Art of Flow. And also working on a book that I'm almost done with it. That's coming soon. It has to do with meditations to the Tao Te Ching and more meditations and more to help all of us dive deeper and deeper into our true self.

Macarena: Wonderful, Wonderful.

Yeah. And flow is very important for a magical life. So thank you, Yoli. As I love and adore you and appreciate you very much.

Yoli: Thank you for having me.

Macarena: Thank you for today. It's been lovely. I'm sure we have lots of other things we can talk about, but I'm glad we started here with flow.

Yoli: Yes. Thank you for having me.

Macarena: Thanks for listening. And see you next time.

[00:42:05] Conclusion and Sponsor Message

I want to thank our sponsors, Spark Social Press, my publisher, for supporting our show and their commitment to spreading joy and empowerment through their magical books. Spark Social Press believes in the power of mindset and the magic of self expression. Our enchanting children's book series, The Grateful Giraffes, teaches little ones the importance of gratitude and positive thinking by expressing themselves thoughtfully and tenderly, and with illustrations of their delightful adventures and heartwarming lessons.

Spark Social Press offers gift books for grown ups for every occasion, helping you express the perfect words to make your loved ones and colleagues feel seen and treasured. With these lighthearted poetry picture books. At Spark Social Press, we believe everyone is glorious and deserves to be fulfilled with more wonder, wellness, and wisdom.

That's why our books are designed to spark creativity, uplift spirits, and empower readers of all ages. To discover the joy of self expression and spread more wonder in your life, visit sparksocialpress.com. Today, together with spark social press, let's embrace the magic of mindset one book at a time.

Once again, a big thank you to spark social press for sponsoring the show and for bringing more wonder, wellness, and wisdom into the world through our thoughtful and inspiring books.

Outro: Wow. What a journey we've been on together. I hope this episode has left you feeling inspired, empowered, and ready to embrace the magic in your life. I'd love to hear about your experiences and insights. Please tag me on social media using the hashtag magical mindset podcast, or leave me a DM to share your wins, challenges, and aha moments.

Let's keep the conversation and the magic flowing beyond this episode. Thank you so much for tuning in and for being a. Until next time, keep shining your light and embracing the wonder of each day. You've got this!